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Thursday, 12 April 2012

My Sewing Room - Storage Solutions

Good Evening all :D
I decided to get up bright and early this morning to get cracking on another project for my new sewing room (well I'm kinda' excited so couldn't sleep anymore even if I tried TBH!) ;p

I've been looking at different ways to store my often-used sewing tools & equipment so that they are all close at hand whilst sat at my sewing table and I've collected a few ideas on my Pinterest 'Crafty Workspaces' board of late to help me to find the best solution.

There are lots of ways that others have tackled this but by far, my favourite solution was to get some kind of Peg-board so that the storage can be flexible to changing needs & requirements:

Time to research!

As it turns out, it's really hard to buy peg board - eBay does feature a lot of metal-type tool boards but really I wanted some kind of hardboard - mainly because it could be cut to my desired dimensions and then be painted to match my space.

One website I found, Chiltern Timber, seemed to match these requirements. The perforated hardboard (as it is also known) came in large sheets but they were willing to cut it to size for me, although I'd still have to buy the full sheet at £18.95.

When I went to checkout however, this price was pretty much doubled to allow for P&P. I begrudge paying just as much for carriage as for the board itself so decided to find an alternative product.

The plan!!

I've decided to share with you all how I made my board - just in case you fancy a similar storage solution:

My finished tool / display / pin board :D

Equipment and Materials shopping list:

9mm MDF sheet- B&Q £11.98. note: B&Q provide a cutting service so they cut this into my desired size for me - I have lots left over too for future projects :)

8.5mm wood drill bit note: the drill bits are slightly smaller than the dowel as this ensures that the dowel fits snugly.

PVA (wood) glue

MDF Sealer

Ruler

Pencil

Tenon saw

Paint

Paint Brush

Nails (size depending on what you want to hang but if it is quite a heavy item, screws would probably be a better option!

Method

Peg holes for scissors

Figure out which tools are most used in your crafty space and lay these out on the pre-cut board to determine the best position for them to hang. I'm keeping my scissors the closest as these area always needed!

Decide which thickness dowel would be best to hold each tool and mark out the peg hole to be drilled with a little X

Next, I drilled a small pilot hole using a 2mm drill bit in each position where a hole would be, including 1" in from each corner for the positions that the board to be screwed to the wall. This helps the final drill to easy locate into the correct position.

Next I countersunk each corner hole (the ones which will be used to fix the board to the wall) so that the screw head fits flush with the board. Tip: Don't worry about buying a countersink attachment for your drill for this purpose, simply open the drilled hole entrance with a wider drill bit.

Next I figured out how far I wanted each peg to stick out of the board (40mm was fine for my tools + the thickness of the MDF = 50mm ) marked this on the dowel rods and cut the rod using the saw. The ends were a bit splintery so rub this with some fine sandpaper to tidy them up. When you've cut the first pegs off the dowel keep repeating step 5 until the desired amount of pegs are ready.

Sand off any rough patches around the drilled holes on your board and then paint. I used a sealer prior to my paint to stop it absorbing into the MDF too much.

Once your board is dry, use a hammer (or preferably, a mallet) and a scrap piece of wood to gently tap your pegs into your board until they are flush with the back. It is important to put the small scrap of wood between the mallet and peg at this stage to avoid splitting them. At this stage your pegs should fit in really tightly but if not, apply a little PVA to the end of each before tapping into the hole to secure.

Hang your board from the countersunk screw holes in your desired position (I also used wall plugs here for additional strength!)

Painted with a roller before the pegs were fitted

Put up your tools, paperwork, bunting, photos and enjoy. It is also really easy to add additional holes and nails to your board as and when you need more space.

I that hope this inspires you to design your own storage for your equipment as it really does make a huge difference to how effectively I can now work. it saves drilling into my walls and when I decide to upgrade to a larger sewing room (ahem!!) It'll be easy to take with me.

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About Me

My name is Gemma and I live in Cheshire, UK with my partner Ian and little boy Thomas. I love to share my crafty (especially crochet and sewing) experiences and other general stuff here on my lovely blog.